Happy - Part B

You ever met a person who's sort of in and out, back and forth with the Lord? They make a commitment, they backslide, they make a recommitment, they go do their thing, make another recommitment.

It's like 40 times. Yes, God is a God of mercy, but stay put. David prayed, created me a pure heart, O God, renew a steadfast spirit within me. When people pursue happiness, they often look for it in the next thing in their lives, the next relationship, the next job, the next paycheck, or the next purchase.

Today on Connect with Skip Heiseck, Skip shares why there's only one place where you can find true happiness. Now we want to tell you about a great resource that will help you pursue God's truth and apply it to your daily life. A recent study from the Cultural Research Center found that Christians are almost just as likely to reject the idea of absolute moral truth as they are to accept it. For American adults, belief in absolute moral truth is eroding across all age groups and political ideologies, whether they're churched or unchurched. What that means is that over 75% of Christ followers, or those who purport to be Christ followers, are saying that nothing can be known for certain. There is no absolute truth.

What about you? We want to help you understand the nature of truth so you can pursue God's truth and apply it in your life with two brand new booklets by Pastor Skip, Why Truth Matters and God and Suicide. If you fall into that category, what do you do with the claims of Christ? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. These booklets are our thanks for your gift of $35 or more today to help keep this ministry on the air, connecting more people to God's word.

To give, call 800-922-1888 or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer. Okay, we're in the first Psalm as Skip Heitzig starts today's study. His delight is in the law of the Lord. One translation says he finds his greatest pleasure in the law of the Lord. He looks forward to it.

Why? Because this book is the means toward an end and the end is an encounter with the living God. So I want to know the word of God so that I can get to know the God of the word.

I want an encounter with him and this book does that for me. Let me give an example. A young woman has a boyfriend. She can't always be with him, but she can carry and she does in her purse, a photograph of him. Photograph is a reminder. It's a reminder. It speaks to her of him.

So when she's away from him, when nobody's looking, she'll pull it out and she'll look at it longingly and maybe even give a surreptitious kiss toward it. Now the picture is in him. It's a substitute of him and not even a great substitute, but it reminds her of him and speaks to her of him and so does the Bible to us. It reminds us of him. It speaks to us of him. It gets us in touch with him and we encounter him. And here's what's even more amazing.

I want you to consider this. When David wrote Psalm 1 and he talked about the happy person delighting in the law of God, the only Bible he had were the first five books of Moses. He was talking literally about Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. His delight is in that. How many people do you know today that would say, my delight is that?

There's only one group I know and that's you. I mean, the Wednesday nights come, you're going, hot diggity dog, we're in Leviticus. Numbers. We, however, have 66 books. We have the whole Bible. We have a treasure trove of truth. And concerning the laws of God, it was David who wrote, and we will see it in Psalm 19, more to be desired are they than gold.

Yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Let me tell you my story. A few months ago, I was on an airplane, a Southwest flight to be exact, and I was next to a man who had a book. He was devoted to his book.

It was a book of crossword puzzles. His head was in it. His head was down. He's writing, and he's thinking.

He didn't come up for air except maybe like when we were about to land, and you know, he like took a breath and had a swig of water, so it was like, it was my opening. So I said, so, you like crossword puzzles, do you? And he goes, oh, I love crossword puzzles. He goes, I have a knack for them. He goes, I can see patterns in a maze of letters, and I don't know if this is fast or not, but he said, my record is 33 words in nine minutes. Now having, I don't know anything about it, but I thought, wow, that's good.

I'm hoping it's good because I really don't know, but I'm just going along in the conversation. And then he said this, this is what I want to share with you. He said, the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to write a book of crossword puzzles. The first thing I do when I pack my suitcase is get a book of crossword puzzles. He said, it takes my mind off flying.

And the reason that made an impact on me is I thought, is this the first thing I think to pack when I pack my suitcase? Am I delighting in the law of the Lord as much as Mr. Crossword Puzzle is delighting in that book of his? I mean, you could say his delight is in the crossword puzzle and in the crossword puzzle, does he meditate day and night?

He was all about that. Look at the word meditate in that verse, by the way, he meditates day and night. What does meditation mean? Well, it's not talking about transcendental meditation where one disengages the mind and kind of goes nowhere. Biblical meditation is exactly the opposite. It means you consciously engage the mind and you focus it upon revealed truth.

In this case, the word of God, the scripture. But the word, the Hebrew word meditate is the word hegah, which means to coo, to mutter, to moan, to read in an undertone or to talk to oneself about. The root meaning of this word is the low moaning of an animal, especially when he chews its cud. Can you picture it? You and I do that sometimes when we eat.

Oh, that's so good. You're talking to yourself about it. You're reacting to what you're eating.

The picture then of meditation is that you just don't read the scripture, but you feed on the scripture. You slow down long enough to hear each word, to emphasize a different word, to say it out loud back to yourself to get an impression. You slow down. I have a problem when I eat, and that is I eat fast.

I always have. My wife has told me over the years to slow down. Echoes of my mom who used to tell me growing up, slow down.

Let me explain to you just to get you on my side a little bit why I eat so fast. I grew up with three older brothers. I'm the youngest. I'm the baby of four. So when it was mealtime, they were serious.

It wasn't a little bit of banter back and forth. It's like whoever gets a food first wins. And I was sometimes last.

I'm the smallest. So I learned to eat very fast. Well, that's dangerous if you go to an expensive restaurant.

It's like five bucks a bite. It's like slow down. So can I suggest that when you read the scripture, when you have your devotional time, that you will slow down and consider it carefully and more slowly. Meditation is the link between theory and action. You ask yourself, is this a command? Is this a promise?

Am I to do something in following this up? Why did he say that word? What if I emphasize that word? And meditation is that link between theory and action.

It forms your worldview and it will determine your behavior. So here's the happy person so far described by what he declines, by what he delights in. Third, he's described by what he depicts. Look at verse three. He shall be like a tree. He shall be like a tree. Doesn't say he shall be like a stump of a tree.

Or he shall be like a twig lying on the ground or like a two by four. No, but something alive and something growing, something flourishing. You know, growth is a normal part of life. You expect growth to happen if there's a living thing.

If you have a seed, you plant it in the ground and you water it, you expect to see results. You expect growth. When a baby is born, you expect the baby to grow up. That's the normal, natural expectation of parents.

If the child's 35 or turns to be 35 years old and still in diapers, you know you got a big problem. No growth. Well, when you see a believer, a Christian, somebody who's been born again, who has spiritual life, they're just sort of always at the same level.

You think something's wrong. There ought to be growth. And as much as I love evangelism and love to call people to follow Jesus, Christianity is more than obstetrics.

It includes pediatrics, includes some emergency room visits, and should go all the way to the geriatric old age stage. So the tree depicts progress. It also depicts permanence, for you'll notice it says, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Can you picture a tree with its roots going deep down into the soil, deriving the nutrients, anchoring itself and becoming a permanent fixture of the landscape? I have a tree in my backyard I want to tell you about. It's an unusual tree. It's only seven years old. It is no joke. At least 50 or 60 feet high.

It has had enormous growth. All my neighbors have said, so what's up with that tree? It's like Jack and the beanstalk tree, because all the other trees in the neighborhood are not like that tree, even the ones that have been around a while.

So here's the deal. I found out I wanted to find out my tree is planted next to a pond. I have to fill the pond by hand with a hose. And I'll fill it one day it will be down the next. And it's just a little pond that has a pump with a hole and a rock and it bubbles and it makes a nice sound.

But I got to fill it all the time, especially in the summer. And so somebody came to my yard one day and goes, you've got a tear in the liner of your pond. You're going to have to rip that out and fix. There's something wrong with your liner. So pulled up all the rocks. Liner was perfect. Not a tear, not a cut, not a hole.

Intact. But we discovered the tree is a very smart tree. The roots not only go down, but some of the roots have gone up just above the liner and back down into the pond. And it's like getting mainline water. You turn on the hoses going.

Turn on the hoses going. And that tree's roots extend into the yard and it has become this massive permanent fixture. The idea here is permanence planted, not potted, planted by rivers of water. Same word Jesus used or thought of the same idea when he said, abide in me. Remember that word? Good New Testament word. Abide in me means remain in me. Have you ever met a person who's sort of in and out, back and forth with the Lord? They make a commitment, they backslide, they make a recommitment, they go do their thing, make another recommitment.

It's like 40 times. Yes, God is a God of mercy, but stay put. David prayed, created me a pure heart, O God, renew a steadfast spirit within me. So it speaks of progress and permanence. Also, calling us to be like a tree is productivity. The next phrase says, who brings forth fruit in its season. It's not an overnight success. It's seasonal.

It takes time to grow. But he brings forth fruit. If you've read the Bible very long, you know that fruit is a picture of, anybody know? Results.

Spiritual activity. If you say something, you better do what you say. That's the fruit of what you say. There's got to be evidence.

There has to be some activity, results that show what you say is true. You'll know them by their fruit, Jesus said. So fruit is a picture of results, a picture of spiritual activity. So fruit is a picture of results, a picture of spiritual activity. But let me add to that.

How about this? Fruit is also a picture of refreshment. A piece of fruit on a summer day, come on.

A cold watermelon on a day like today, come on. So refreshing. A happy person is the kind of person that to be around you feel refreshed. Ever be around, some people say, man, I'm so drained. And there's a place for that. There's time for that. I understand some people are burdened and we will, but you know what it's like to be around somebody who fills your tank up and you feel refreshed.

And they're usually the type of person described in this song. The Lord spoke of Abraham and made him a promise in Genesis 12. I will make you a blessing, he said. I will make you a great nation and you shall be a blessing. You will be a refreshment.

That's the happy person. Whenever we travel to Israel, we on one day take people from the sea of Galilee to Jerusalem. It's a few hour drive by bus. And it's the day that they are able to see the two bodies of water inland that exists there in that country. First is the sea of Galilee, that's up north. And around the sea of Galilee, there's farms, it's green, it's beautiful. And then it empties into the Jordan River and you follow it, follow it, follow it, follow it, keep driving, keep driving, follow it, follow it, get down south to another big body of water called the Dead Sea.

Want to know why it's called the Dead Sea? It's dead. Nothing lives in it, except for some weird microbe.

But it's dead. And it's such a picture of two ways to live. The reason the Sea of Galilee is alive and the Dead Sea is dead is the Sea of Galilee has an inlet and an outlet.

The Dead Sea has only an inlet, no outlet. So it is with people. There's some people that are filled with life because they bring in, they take in, there's growth, there's vibrancy, then they give out, they export it. And then there's other people who are dead, they're just like, give me, give me, I want more, I need more.

It's all intake, no outtake. The happy person will be productive and refreshing. It also speaks of perseverance, for you'll notice that it will say, whose leaf shall not wither. No explanation needed. It doesn't give up. It keeps on going. It doesn't quit.

It's evergreen. It also speaks of prosperity. Look at the end of that verse. And whatever he does shall prosper. What a life.

The word prosper means full grown or mature. Here's the picture of a life who's balanced. A person aligned with God and thus the rest of life is in balance. Personal life, spiritual life, family life, business life, leisure life, all in balance because that person is connected to God and in that connection and in that blessing, everything he or she seems to touch is just blessed. They're happy through a lifetime.

I've always loved the story about the little boy who went into the pet store to pick out a dog and he put his face up to the mirror or up to the window and there's a little puppy wagging his tail and he goes, Daddy, I want the one with the happy ending. Don't we all want the life with a happy ending? A life marked by growth, a life marked by productivity and refreshment and God's touch of blessing and prosperity and maturity upon it. So here's the happy man or the happy woman described by what he declines, described in what he delights, described by what he depicts and finally and forth he is described by how he differs. Verse four, the ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. Implication is they won't stand or fall nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Let me just at this point give you a word about the structure of this psalm. This psalm is structured antithetically, meaning the first three verses describe one person. The next three verses describe a different person and they are opposites of each other.

There's an antithesis going on. So verse one through three, the blessed person, the righteous person. Verse four and five, the ungodly person. Verse six, both of them in a summary fashion. So he writes about the happy person then all of a sudden he takes a right turn and he goes, but not this guy. The first guy is different from the second guy and in the Septuagint version it's even a double negative. It's not so, the ungodly, not so. As if to say whatever good things can be said of the first guy, none of them can be said for the second guy. Here you've got a growing living fruitful tree. Here you've got a pile of chaff.

It's dead. If you really want to see the difference, look at the results of these two lives by comparing the first word of the psalm to the last word of the psalm. The first word is, okay, three people have read the psalm here.

The first word is, say it out loud, blessed. The last word is perish. Two ends, two results of two lives.

One is blessed, happy, fruitful. The other, perish. There was a young paratrooper who was learning how to jump and the instructor told him and all the students, you cannot get in the airplane until you know certain instructions. Number one, when I say jump, you jump. Number two, you count to 10 after you have jumped and you pull the rip cord and your chute will open. Number three, if your chute doesn't open, you pull the other cord, the emergency room, and you jump. Number four, if your chute doesn't open, the emergency rip cord and the emergency parachute will open. And finally, number four, when you get down, there will be a truck waiting for you to take you back to the airfield.

So this young man memorized all four instructions. Got on the airplane, got to about 10,000 feet, people were jumping. The instructor told him, jump, he jumped. So he got number one. He counted to 10 and number 10, he pulled the rip cord. So he got number two. Problem, parachute didn't open. So he pulled the emergency rip cord.

He got number three. The other parachute did not open. He has no parachute and he's falling fast down to the ground and the thought comes to him, oh great, I suppose the truck won't be there either when I get down. I would have thought of something else. Hey, which plane are you flying in?

The one marked blessed or the one marked perish? Look at the word chaff. They're like the chaff. You know what chaff is, right?

It's husk. It's the little thin skin that's around the wheat. It's next to it, but when you pluck the wheat, which is nourishing, the chaff is winnowed. You throw the wheat up in the air and the chaff falls off and the wind takes it away. It's at the mercy of the wind. And I thought about that and I thought, what an interesting description of the unbeliever.

The unsaved person does not believe there is a devil and yet the irony is they are being driven and controlled by the very devil they do not believe in. Carried by the winds, Paul the apostle described our life before Christ and he said you were dead in trespasses and sins and you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the one, the devil, who works in the children of disobedience. So does your life resemble a tree or a pile of husks, dead chaff? And I mean deep inside of you. A man was by a river and he reached down in the water and he picked up a rock and he took the rock and he looked at it. It was all wet and then he got down and he cracked it open and he looked on the inside of the rock. It was dry and it just, it just dawned on him. He said, here's this rock surrounded by all this water but deep inside the water hasn't penetrated, it's dry as a bone. He thought, how many people are like, are like that? They're surrounded by God's people, surrounded by God's truth, surrounded by God's music, surrounded by God's words, but deep inside them, dry as a bone.

No life in them. Is that you? Is that you? You like the first one, you like the second. It's amazing how the Bible always does that, kind of gives us not 50 but two roads, two choices, two results.

That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series playlist. Now we want to share about an exciting opportunity you have to take your knowledge of God's word even deeper. Calvary College is now open for registration. Calvary College is offering select online classes as an opportunity for individuals to take their life's calling to a whole new level with an educational emphasis in biblical studies. With our unique partnerships with Veritas International University and Calvary Chapel University, you will have the opportunity to obtain your bachelor's or master's degree with complete online programs. Whether you're looking to obtain an accredited online degree or take individual courses to become better equipped in your knowledge of God's unchangeable truth, Calvary College has you covered with a range of opportunities. For updates on classes and registration information for Calvary College, please visit calvaryabq.college. That's calvaryabq.college.

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Again, that's 800-922-1888. Thank you. Tune in again tomorrow as Skip Heitzig shares how you can hear God's voice more clearly. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.